Welcome to the CORTEZ CULTURAL CENTER

Board of Directors

Sherry Owen-Siekmann, Board President

Sherry is an Illinois native who recently moved to Southwest Colorado to build a last chapter off grid passive solar home. She loves being outside doing physical activities and being in tune with nature. Her favorite activities are creating and cooking nutritious meals and recipes, gardening, entertaining, learning and using herbs for healing and nutrition, taking on new tasks, and taking the time to listen to friends and patients with their life journey challenges.

Sherry's career has focused on health & wellness being a Nurse Practitioner. She has longevity lifestyle medicine practice Abundant Wellness, LLC. She is also owner of Sunset Condo Rentals, LLC, in Maui, Hawaii, which is her second home. Sherry is married and a mother. She joined the Board at the Cortez Cultural Center in August 2023. She feels that the Cultural Center has always been a touchstone for her when she visited friends in Dolores over the years. She would make it a point to stop in to see what was up and happening at the CCC. Sherry took the lead in opening the Community Coffee House within the Cultural Center to foster, not only an income source for the Center, but a destination for tourists to visit, and also a place where local residents can sit down to meet a friend or business colleague, have a conversation, get some work done with our Free WiFi, pick up a gift, and enjoy local art and history of the Southwest all in one place. Sherry likes to say that " The Community Coffee House brings all the areas of the Cortez Cultural Center together with a common thread- Coffee and Conversation fostering Community!”

Diane Cherbak, Vice-President

Diane has an undergraduate degree in Food Science and a Master's in Business. She worked at Lockheed Martin in Flight Test for over 30 years. It was a very exciting and rewarding career, but she is thoroughly enjoying retirement.

She lived at the beach for the first 25 years of her life, then in the high desert for 30. Her plan is to spend the next 30 years in the mountains.

She and her husband bought property in 2001 in the Cedar Mesa Ranches subdivision and moved here full time in 2010. They love the area and have immersed themselves in their new community. Diane loves the outdoors and enjoys birding, gardening, hiking, camping, working with their Rotties, and she never tires of the magnificent vistas in the area.

Diane has been chairing the Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival and on the Board of Directors since 2011. The Birding Festival is the major fundraiser for the Cortez Cultural Center. She believes the Center is a vital part of this community and wants to help continue that presence.

Paul Beckler, Treasurer

Paul Beckler is a Colorado native, husband, father and Realtor who has a passion for his community and the outdoors. Born in Leadville and raised in Durango where he graduated from Fort Lewis College, Paul spent nearly 20 years in finance and business administration before finding a new passion in helping people find housing. In his spare time you might find him enjoying the area trails on a mountain bike or hiking or supporting his daughters events at MCHS. He has been a CCC board member since 2019.

Tom Hooten, Director

Tom retired from Colorado State University after serving 22 years as a Montezuma County Extension Agent and a Research Associate at the Southwestern Colorado Research Center in Yellow Jacket. He joined the Cortez Cultural Center's BOD in October 2022. He also served on the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs (12 years) and the Health and Wellness Subcommittee (3 years) for CCIA. Supporting the Cortez Cultural Center now in the current transition-stage is vital. Eventually, Tom would like to see the Cortez Cultural Center serve as a true center where members of the great diversity of the region's cultures can meet, learn, and experience each other. Tom's interests include everything outdoors, reading, and life-long learning.

Debi Berger, Secretary 

Debi is a retired physical therapist who was looking for something to do in retirement.  She started out volunteering at the Community coffee house as a Barista. She is also a member of the Birding Festival planning committee.  After having all this experience at the Cortez Cultural Center we asked her to serve on the board of directors. Once she came on board she volunteered to be the board secretary.  In her spare time Debi enjoys quilting, mountain bike riding and walking her Basset Hound Jasper especially at Hawkins Preserve. In the winter she and her husband take their escape trailer to Arizona. 

Lynn Dyer, Director

Before retirement in 2017, Lynn had worked in the tourism industry for 25 years, first as Marketing Director for Crow Canyon Archaeological Center and then as Executive Director for Mesa Verde Country®. While Director, she contributed to the development of the Birding Festival, and still serves on that committee today. After retirement, Lynn followed her childhood dream to become a National Park Ranger and was Ranger Lynn at Mesa Verde National Park for three years prior to the Covid pandemic.

A native Coloradoan, Lynn spent many years in the corporate world of Chicago, before returning to the state she loves. Her corporate career included corporate training, and later sales and marketing, of corporate tax systems to Fortune 500 companies across the U. S.

Lynn holds a BA in Education and Sociology, an MBA in marketing, and an MA in Anthropology. She is an avid world traveler, animal lover, and advocate for children and animals. She served on the Four Corners Child Advocacy Center Board for six years, and is currently serving her fourth term as president of For Pet's Sake Humane Society.

Kathy Sipley, Director

Kathy, originally from Michigan, spent nearly 35 years in the telecommunications industry, beginning her career at Michigan Bell. She witnessed and adapted to numerous changes over the years, ultimately retiring from Lucent Technologies. Throughout her career, Kathy held diverse roles, ranging from collaborating with Bell Labs on new product development, being part of a

National Technical Hotline, to overseeing Sales and Marketing for the Indirect Channel across the United States. In 2000, Kathy and her product team were honored with the President’s Award, a recognition of their outstanding contributions.

After years of relocating for her career, Kathy found her ideal home in Durango. Upon retirement, she started and ran a successful business in Durango for eight years before moving to Arizona to be closer to her children and grandchildren. In Arizona, Kathy became a realtor, a role she continues to pursue remotely during the snowbird season. In 2022, Kathy relocated back to Cortez, Colorado.

Kathy’s extensive experience in technology, sales, marketing, and management is complemented by her unwavering passion for customer service and support in every aspect of her professional and personal life. Her journey in volunteerism began 2024 at the Cortez Cultural Center, where she started as a barista and was later invited to join the board. Kathy is eager to contribute

to the Center’s operations, gift shop, coffee house, or any area where her diverse skill set can be valuable.